Caution
by Aphrodite Roslin
Summary: Laura Roslin had always loved danger...Perhaps that's why she's so attracted to him... Based on a dream I had. Set anytime between s1 premire and s2 finale.


Laura Roslin had always loved danger. Since the day she was born it had been a part of her life. Being over three months premature, the doctors hadn't held out much hope for her survival. It still seemed strange to her that the first time she encountered death was the very same day she had begun her life. She had challenged death then, daring him to try and take life away from her. He had put up a good fight, but in the end it was Laura that prevailed. Maybe that was what had started it all. Her will to live had gifted and cursed her with a lifelong obsession.

By the time she was seven, Laura had not only her mother but her three older sisters as well truly believing she was insane. It was true, she was not a normal child in any sense. She could be flawlessly sociable when necessary but spent most of her time either with her nose stuffed deep into a new, exciting, and mysterious book or creating enough mischief for all four of her mother's children combined. The school guidance counselor had told her parents that was most likely suffering from some sort of nervous disorder which caused her to behave so strangely. That had been enough for her mother to decide Laura needed to see a psychiatrist, but her father would not hear of it. He insisted that his daughter was not dysfunctional but merely unique, and he refused to force the child to change. Laura loved every member of her family, but she found that she felt a special connection to her father. She wished they had had more time.

The day Laura turned thirteen, she had her first big accident. When she was younger, she had always had the good fortune to be able to avoid disaster under the watchful eyes of her parents and big sisters, but as she grew older, their constant attention began to drift. The two oldest girls had gone off to college, and the third was not far behind. The remaining family had become less cautious as the children aged, expecting them to be responsible and sensible when on their own. Little Laura; however, thought cautious was an absolutely horrible way to live and so did not conform to many of her parents' rules while alone. It was a choice that had cost her. It was the final day of school for the week, and she felt no motivation for getting home quickly. Even though it was her birthday, she would have no gifts or party until hours later. Going home now just meant she would be forced into helping her mom prepare. So, she kept a close eye on her sister as they walked toward their house in the suburbs of Caprica City, waiting for her opportunity to switch paths. Not surprisingly, she found it very quickly as an attractive older boy, Laura thought he was a senior, speed past them on his brand new _Apollo Kaczmarek_ motorcycle, flashing a charming yet almost nervous smile at her. Well, at least she liked to believe that was what he was doing. It made for a much juicier story that way.

Regaining her composure, Laura noticed that every bit of her sister's focus was now on the cute boy, and she took the opportunity to escape. Shifting off the carefully paved sidewalk, she found a small, familiar path in the woods and followed it to her favorite tree. Without hesitation, she grabbed the lowest branch available and began to climb. Two minutes and twenty-five feet later, Laura Roslin sat nestled comfortably in her cherished reading spot. Pulling out her copy of "The Murder of Admiral Sorvino" and hanging her book bag from the next branch over, Laura Roslin could not have been more content. Too bad it only lasted five minutes, give or take, after which she heard a loud, terrifying crack. She didn't dare move for fear that the limb would snap, effectively sending her plummeting twenty-five feet to the solid dirt below. She called out for help, hoping someone nearby would hear and come to her rescue. After all, she knew she wasn't far from a small cul-de-sac; surely someone would hear. However, her hopes were defeated as the tree gave one more reverberating snap, and she felt herself begin to fall, screaming as she went.

Hitting the ground did not feel as bad as Laura had expected. In fact she didn't see where it hurt that bad at all. She had expected the sound of bones breaking and the feeling of nonstop intense agony, but that was not how she felt at all and she was sure that the only things she had heard breaking had been the branches she came into contact with during her rapid descent. All she could feel at that moment was the all too familiar adrenaline rush that flowed through her body making her nervous and jittery with emotions that were blissfully out of whack. That is, until she tried to move. All feelings of ecstasy disappeared as a brutal searing pain shot through her body, head to toe, like a shotgun blast. Shocked by the sudden onslaught, she cried out it agony and began to sob shamelessly while attempting not to move her body.

Laura was not sure how long she lay there wailing, lost in her own personal agony, before rescue came in the form of the cute biker who had provided her much needed distraction. He sat there beside her and held her hand, touching her gently and soothingly as he whispered that she would be alright, that help was on the way. He seemed very concerned that she stayed awake, striking up pointless conversation and giving her cheek an agonizing little slap whenever she would start to doze.

"What's your name, shorty?" she remembered him asking.

"L-Laura," she had replied tearfully.

"Hi there, Laura," he told her with a smile. "My name's William, but you can call me Will. All of my other friends do."

"H-Hi, Will," she responded quietly. Not knowing what to do next, she shifted her gaze to the edge of the woods.

"Don't worry," he reassured her. "My dad already called for help. They're going to be here in minute now. Everything's gonna be okay."

Laura didn't remember much after that. Everything was fuzzy and jumbled like a dream you couldn't wake up from. When she finally did join the land of the living again, she found her family surrounding her, looking worried and disheveled, but, much to her dismay, William was nowhere to been found. The doctors told her she had been in the hospital for two days with concussion, broken collar bone, and three cracked ribs. She had been startled at her list of injuries, but that did not stop her.

She found out later that William had moved away the day before she woke up but had visited her more than once in the hospital before he left. She often wondered as the years passed if she would ever see him again, but as she aged, it became increasingly obvious that he was gone from her life forever. The accident with the tree had been the last straw. Her father, though agreeing that she made have needed some help, still refused to send her to the shrink. Instead, they sent Laura to meet with a highly respected priest. She hated it. Every moment was torture, but she kept it up simply to please her family. They had begun to watch her again, as well. She felt not unlike a naughty puppy under constant surveillance, but she said nothing, knowing she deserved the overly careful attention.

The last straw; however, had been when her dad and three sisters planned Laura's dream vacation in the Caprican mountains and left the obedient teen at home with her now overprotective mother. She had been angered and hurt by the decision. All of her life she had dreamed of climbing and hiking through the portentous rocks, but when her chance finally came, she found herself denied. She then found herself finally exploding, yelling and cursing at those she loved – including her loving father. She wondered if she had known how that trip would end if she would had acted in the same manner. If she had known that those words of hate would be the last they'd ever hear from her, would she still had said them? She knows she will never find out. That's what bothers her the most.

After the death of her father and sister, something changed inside of Laura Roslin. She no longer took risks or climbed giant trees. She no longer acted on want her heart told her she wanted but rather focused on what her mother, her only living relative, expected. Laura attended college, got her teaching degree, and settled into a new, typical life in the suburbs of Caprica City. But, even so, she could not suppress the dreams of mystery and adventure that plagued her day and night. One day she would break out of the pathetic mold she lived in and find what she desired in a new life. Once her mother got better that is. Mrs. Roslin had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and not expected to live, but Laura had refused to believe it and held out weak hope that one day she would wake to find her mother cured. However, that day never came.

Death changes a person. Laura Roslin knew this to be true all too well. The need for danger and adventure had taken back control of her life after she buried her mother. Teaching just wasn't satisfying anymore. She needed a way out, and Richard Adar seemed to be exactly what she was looking for. It was true that managing a politicians campaign was not all that exciting in itself, but it was not the job he had given her that she desired. It was the man himself – the married man. There in lied a new danger. One she had never experienced before. And it excited her to no end.

Years later, when Richard was finally elected president, Laura was surprised with an offer to become his Secretary of Education. She had readily excepted the job. She had never aspired to hold such a position, but the scandal of it was just to tempting to resist. Adar had rekindled a flame that burned deep within her that had gone out long before. She could feel that beautiful, glorious rush of ecstasy each time they made love, and yet, there was nothing more. Eventually, the excitement and danger of it all had worn away. She tried everyday to make it return, to spark something within herself to give her life meaning again, but as the years trudged on, she found her life was nearly back to where she had started. And on top of that, she could not stop feeling sick no matter how hard she tried. At first she shook it off as a bug or something, but she soon realized that it was no disease that made her hurt as she did. And one certainly didn't cause that lump on her right breast.

Finding she had cancer had been a surprise. Looking back, she doesn't figure it should have been, but she had convinced herself she was different from her mother, that it couldn't happen to her. She had been wrong. So, Laura Roslin prepared herself for two final adventures: standing up to Adar and visiting the Battlestar Galactica. After settling things with the Teachers' Union, Laura felt as if she could do anything. She couldn't wait to speak with this Commander Adama. She was ready for a good battle. Anything he could throw at her, she could take and throw back harder and faster. Yes, she would go out with her own little bang – one last rush of adrenaline ecstasy before the inevitable. But since when did her plans turn out as she wanted them?

Laura Roslin had always loved danger. Since the day she was born it had been a part of her life. Being over three months premature, the doctors hadn't held out much hope for her survival. It still seemed strange to her that the first time she encountered death was the very same day she had begun her life. She had challenged death then, daring him to try and take life away from her. He had put up a good fight, but in the end it was Laura that prevailed. Maybe that was what had started it all. Her will to live had gifted and cursed her with a lifelong obsession.

Perhaps that's why she's so attracted to him. He himself is a physical embodiment of danger. Military lives are filled with it. His voice matches the one she hears in her head of the heroes in her books perfectly. He has a quiet stoicism about him that makes her insides do somersaults every time she sees or hears him. When the world had ended, the cylons became her new adventure, her new terrible source of ecstasy until even they lost their effect. William Adama; however, did not. To this very day he continues to excite and amaze her. And somewhere deep inside Laura Roslin knows he will never lose his ability to give her strength and drive her forward because that's what danger does...even if he doesn't know it yet.

FINISH

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Thanks for taking the time to read my fic! I apologize for any mistakes because I wrote this at four o'clock in the morning. Remember, reviews equal LOVE!


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